


dear bernardo,

by fiveameyes



Category: Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe - Benjamin Alire Sáenz
Genre: Angst, Drabble, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Letters, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-10-23
Updated: 2018-10-23
Packaged: 2019-08-06 05:47:03
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 903
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16382522
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/fiveameyes/pseuds/fiveameyes
Summary: Dear Bernardo,It's Ari. Aristotle. It's me.





	dear bernardo,

“Can I read you something, Dante?” Ari asked. 

They had been engulfed in a comfortable silence, laying still on Dante's bed, that Ari was sad to break. But he needed this off his chest, as much as possible. 

“Sure,” Dante said. His voice was a little gone, like he wasn't fully there, and Ari had half the mind to just leave it for another day and not have to bring Dante back to the world just yet. But, he was planning on sending the letter the very next day, so he needed to get this out as soon as possible. 

“It's a letter to my brother.” The words came out all at once, and Dante needed a moment to register what he had said. But then he did register it, and Dante was 100% fully _ there _ . 

“I didn't know you were going to write to him yet,” he said, because that's all he could manage to say without being dumb and saying something to hurt Ari. 

“I wasn't going to, but then one day I just sat down and started writing, and it was like I couldn't have stopped if I'd tried.” 

“You want to read it to me?” 

“Yeah, if that's okay,” Ari was hesitant. 

“Of course it's okay. Of course.” 

Ari was quiet for just a moment, but it was a pregnant silence, and Dante could tell he was agonizing. 

“I told him about you. Kind of. Is that okay?” 

Dante tilted his head. “Kind of?” 

“I didn't directly tell him anything. But I hope he's smart enough to catch on.” 

Dante smiled, just a bit. “That's okay, Ari. Tell him whatever you want.” 

Ari smiled, too, and he nodded his head. Then, he took a deep breath and reached into his pocket and pulled out a piece of stationery that had clearly been folded and unfolded a billion times. 

His hands were shaking. Dante reached over and placed his own hand on Ari's, rubbing his thumb over the sightly calloused skin. 

“You don't have to read it if you don't feel comfortable.” 

Ari closed his eyes. “Thank you.” And opened them. And turned to Dante, and pressed a close lipped kiss to the corner of his mouth. “But I need this.”

Dante just nodded and let him take the time he needed. 

After a moment, Ari unfolded the paper and began to read. 

_ “Dear Bernardo, _

_ It's Ari. Aristotle. It's me.  _

_ I guess there's a lot I want to say to you, but I'll start with the basics.  _

 

  * __I don't know you very well at all, but I think you wouldn't like me very much. I hope I'm wrong, but I don't think I am.__


  * _I know what you did. I didn't know for so long, but Mom finally told me last year. I was so angry for so long, Bernardo. I didn't know what you possibly could have done to make Mom and Dad act like you didn't exist anymore. But then when she told me, I understood it a little more. It hurts too much to change the image of someone in your mind, it's almost easier to pretend there was never an image in the first place._


  * _I think maybe I'm like you, just a little. Sometime last year, someone beat up my best friend. I broke the guy's nose. I was absolutely blinded by anger, I didn't know what to do with myself. But that's also where we're different, too. I broke his nose because I love my friend more than I can explain in words. What you did, that didn't have any love in it. Not one bit._



 

_ I hope I'm not making you angry. I don't want you to hate me, but I also believe that you probably will no matter what. Because, Bernardo, I think I'm exactly the kind of person that makes you angry. The kind of anger that made you do what you did.  _

_ I know you probably won't write back. And that's okay. But I'm going to keep writing, because I want you to know me. Even if you won't like me much.  _

_ Your brother,  _

_ Ari.” _

When Ari took his deep breath, and looked back up at Dante, he saw tears in the boys eyes. And he realized that he had tears in his own eyes, too. Dante just grabbed his hand, and kissed the back of it, and leaned his head on Ari's shoulder. 

“Sometimes I forget how many feelings you have going on in your head, Ari.” 

“Sometimes I forget that, too.” 

“I love you.” And the way Dante said it, the way he emphasized “love,” the way it was firmer than how he normally said it, made Ari believe that everything was maybe going to be okay. 

“I love you, too.” He tried to say it just as firm and believable, but he still had tears in his eyes, and his throat closed up just a little, so he sounded like he was trying not to cry. Which, he supposed, he  _ was.  _ Ari turned to kiss the top of Dante's head, and the boy nuzzled his face further into Ari's shoulder. And maybe Bernardo wouldn't write back. Maybe he'd return his letter. Maybe he'd hate him for how he loved Dante. But in that moment, all Ari needed was Dante's hand in his own, and he knew he'd be strong enough to withstand any of that and more. 

 

**Author's Note:**

> i might make another part to this. thoughts?


End file.
